


Stars above

by okumoros (sbzpruiosnejre)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Beyond the Walls, One Shot, Season 2 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-07 10:35:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21456646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sbzpruiosnejre/pseuds/okumoros
Summary: Ymir's journey across the untamed wild reaches its end.[season 2 spoilers]
Kudos: 3





	Stars above

**Author's Note:**

> This interpretation of Ymir is based in an AU connected to the [Reluctant Heroes](http://reluctant-heroes.com) roleplay forum.

The stars were staggering.

Her journey had been horrid, the nights the only time it was safe to sleep, but she slept each time with a last look at the sky above, stars glittering above her. She had no idea where she was going, only that she should keep moving. Feet bare, they ached and complained no matter whether she was walking or resting.

At last, Ymir saw something crawl out of the horizon.

Each time the titans managed to get close, she exploded in anger and fear, snarling and growling as she snatched their limbs and threw them away. The titan's might was terrifying, shaking her to the core, but every bit of practice was worth it. She was small and quick, but too many mindless titans meant death. That she avoided nimbly, at times using these new powers to put space between herself and the mass of murderous monsters.

They were numerous here, but she kept her goals set on the great grey structure jutting out ahead of her. It must be a wall, she decided. Some place safe from the titans. This whole land was teeming with beasts and horror.

She was one herself. But she could still live. Still survive.

Just... a little... further...

* * *

The closer she got, the taller the structure became. It still appeared to be a wall, yet a gaping hole began to show itself. It didn't split through the wall, yet it was still sizeable - and titans were going through.

Ymir stopped, leaning against a tree as she surveyed the area. Titans were still around, making their way forward just as she did. The wall must be too high to climb. Before now she had only tried leaping tree to tree in the large forests. But perhaps she could climb high enough out of their reach to squeeze through the top of the hole.

"Why?" she asked herself. "If there are people there, they'll just be children of the devil. If there are none, I'll be trapped with titans!" Her voice, hoarse from lack of use, unsettled her. Then reality hit. "The devil's descendants... I am one."

Perhaps they were all titans. Switching between people and monster. That was her future. The place she deserved.

* * *

Scrambling hold of the obliterated rock, she hauled herself up out of a titan's reach. Its hands flailed towards her, misshapen mouth emitting gentle groans. Forcing herself to climb higher, she felt clumsy in her disproportionate titan form, struggling to focus on her objective. Exhaustion wracked her mind, but her body seemed able to do more.

She fought to keep going, but her grip began to slacken. The tallest titans around could still grab her.

Squeezing her eyes shut, it did very little to block out the sight she saw from the titan's darting eyes. There was no escaping it. A constant state of consciousness, slipping only as memories blocked her sense of self. Letting the titan rage on, with no purpose, no guidance. Ymir focused, dragging her thoughts to the present. She could do this.

She pushed against the wall, muscles tensing, and launched herself off with a kick. The keap went as far as possible, until she rolled clumsily across the ground. Titans grabbed at her. Ymir kept going, fighting her way out with a struggle. Bitten, dragged, clawed, pinned down - until she burst out, roaring, to sprint across the bridge.

There were buildings here.

* * *

She found no people. Plenty of bodies. Over that night, she searched the streets, kicking away rotten food and collecting tin cans in the hope they won't be spoiled. The writing she found was similar to back there… not home, but the language she knew. Some words she could puzzle out, but most she couldn't. This must be it. The fabled Walls.

But where had everyone gone?

* * *

It took her so long to follow the river - though it was hardly natural, walled in by concrete and leading straight on towards another large grey wall - she lost track of time. This one had no hole, she realised, as she walked around the curved structure until she met a corner - and then walked on further in hope of an entrance, as well as a want for it to be secure. When she finally decided to stop, fear bubbled in her chest. If there were no titans inside, there could only be people. Her kind. Others who could change, potentially. Or shun her and treat her just the same as before.

"I have to do this," she hissed to herself, settling down for the night.

For her last morning in the wild, she consumed every scrap of tinned food she had, gorging on a feast all by herself, and then she changed again. The energy given by the food didn't make a difference. She just hoped it would help.

Clawing and scratching at the great Wall, the muscled titan struggled up the flat surface. Her nails bit into it, crumbling rubble under her weight as she dragged herself up. Several times she slipped, scrambling to catch herself before she could fall into the waiting mouths of her mindless brethren below. Ymir fought against the air, against the wall, against everything stopping her from achieving what she wanted - to reach the top.

The sky had darkened by the time she curled her large fingers around the rampart's side. Hauling herself over its edge, she rolled over until she plummeted down until she collapsed into smoke on the ground, panting and gasping in her recovery. Her titan body - her shell, she supposed - crumbled beneath her, sending her sprawling in a ditch.

Dragging herself out of the dip, she began to walk, clothes tattered, worries fractured. She kept going until she saw something in the distance.

Lights glittering like stars.


End file.
